Saturday, November 30, 2019

KNIVES OUT A REVIEW

UPDATE: Going to leave up the movie review-
We're done picking against the Purple Birds so Ravens/49ers are off our board. 
Texans at Cheaters- Over 45. 
Packers at Giants...don't know why but we like the home-dog Gints +6.5
Rams at Arizona- Over 47.
J..E...T...S  Jets Jets Jets. Gang Green on the prowl. -3.5 over  sad Cincy. 
San Diego at Denver. Chargers -2.5 in the snow. 

Survivor: Judge Faber rules for the Pack; Fake AM likes Seattle; Mr. Markus and Peter Sautter roll with the Panthers.  (OUCH- see ya, wouldn't want to be ya) 
Juan Gonzalez rolled with the Pack. Awaiting  And Lucy Lew lost last week with the Falcons.  and Dustin Tischler took the Rams.

MOVIE REVIEW 

This is a decent piece of writing. Not by Rumpole, but by a reader who left it in the comments section. We are intrigued, so we decided to put it on the front page: 




At The Cinema said...
At the Cinema

“We’ve been here before” my fellow cinema attendees seem to say as they settle into their 
reclining seats to view “Knives Out” Rian Johnson’s ensemble “who-dun-it”. 
Maybe we have, and then again, maybe we have not. 
Which disgruntled family member killed patriarch-writer Harlan Thrombery 
(Christopher Plummer) in his twisty-turney mansion at the end of his 85th Birthday party 
when he is discovered with his throat gashed open? One of his disgruntled and recently 
disinherited children? One of their dysfunctional children? Did the butler do it ??? 
Except in this story the butler is played by ingenue Ana de Armas, the coquettish nurse who, 
by the time the movie is over, is from every country in Central and South America. 

First the clumsy part- the introduction of “famed” private detective Benoit Blanc
 (Daniel Craig), Johnson’s Hercule Poitrot. Blanc appears instantaneously,
 inexplicably assisting a couple of inept local detectives, one of which is 
inexplicably identified as a state trooper. Why is a traffic ticket writer assigned to a death?
 It’s never explained, and it doesn’t matter. 

The real question in this movie is not who did it, but what Craig and Johnson are
 doing with us? Do they think we are buying Craig’s putative southern gentleman accent 
and are cringing, or is the joke on us? There is everything but Craig breaking the fourth 
wall ala Eddie Murphy in Beverly Hills Cops and pausing to wink at us. 

Eventually the will is read (did you think you were going to escape that tired old ploy?) 
the family gasps, and then the movie takes off in earnest. “Cui Bono” we ask in our 
criminal cases and in our murder mysteries (who benefits?). 

Craig/Blanc stops pinging one note on the piano, and in the penultimate and ultimate
 scenes Craig- ala Poirot ala Ms. Marple ala Holmes explains all. Don’t bother trying- 
you won’t be able to do it and Johnson doesn’t give you chance. It’s all a wink and nod- 
you pay for your ducat and some Snocaps and he takes you for a two-hour ride
 (there’s even a mild car chase). But even when the killer is unmasked- then as the
 infomercial says-“wait there’s more!”. 
Because in the end is it about life and morality and catching a killer… or in the end is it 
about the money? And this is where Rian Johnson wants to take us. Not to Agatha Christie 
and Sir Arthur C Doyle, but to Akira Kurosawa and Ingmar Bergman.
 Johnson has his popular vox popoli hits behind him- Star Wars and the like. 
Now he’s writing and directing for something bigger. 

Johnson wants his Seven Samurai, and Knives Out is his first attempt. 
The question at the end of this two-hour romp is not who did it? 
Intelligent viewers will leave the theater pondering what Knives Out will do to the genre? 
As Seven Samurai begot the Magnificent Seven, what will Knives Out beget? 

In Cinema Veritas… and next time the popcorn is on me.

14 comments:

  1. Huh...hmmmm.

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  2. Perhaps the finest piece of cinematic writing since Sydney Lumet and Prince of the City.

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  3. "Johnson has his popular vox popoli hits behind him- Star Wars and the like."

    Go sample YouTube if you think "The Last Jedi" won Johnson the love of the fans.

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  4. Ten X the writer of Rump and he knows it. CV should replace Rumpole as the blogger. Smarter and a better writer.

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  5. CV
    Doesn't all prior cinema influence those films that come after ? You me too that the Magnificent Seven is based on The Seven Samari( which it was, with permission of Kirosawa ). But he also said that the Seven Samari was based on American Westerns .

    Any comments on the continued success of the current version of ' Wagon Train in Space'.

    SIR Wilfred

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  6. Sir W- you're an incompetent boob.
    Plan 9 from Outer Space influenced what movie?
    The Three Stooges go to Italy influenced what movie?

    Only certain Cinema is designed to influence other movies that follow. The Seven Samurai was made looking backwards and forward. So was Knives Out.
    Space balls was not. Neither was Baywatch the movie.
    Open your eyes man.
    Get a life.

    Just call me CV

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  7. That review is all over the internet with five stars, twelve bags of popcorn, whatever. Either CV's gone viral, or you've been had dope.

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  8. Yo yo yo...I wrote it.

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  9. My dear CV
    . In the early 1960s Gene Rodenberry was shopping around Hollywood to sell his new Sci-Fi TV show which he described as ' Wagon Train in Space' . He sold it to NBC and
    STAR TREK was born. It has spawn , besides the 3 years original run, at least 5 other TV series, including the animated series, and 8-9 Movies.

    Sir Wilfred

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  10. I'm so much dumber for having read that.

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  11. Citing Kurosawa and Bergman like a film school sophomore at the Johnny LaRue School for the Deaf. Really...

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  12. It is with sincere apologies that I self report a violation of the survivor rules. I just noticed that I picked the Packers in week six and absentmindedly again yesterday. Although I am clearly the best player and would undoubtedly defeat all opponents; to carry on would dishonor my community. Therefore, unless you can think of a rule or reason why not, I disqualify myself from further participation.

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  13. Rumpole, My pick for week 13 was the Kansas City Chiefs. I had selected the Packers in week 6 as well but I did not select them again. Please check your records and confirm. Juan, you are a gentleman no doubt. Thank you for your honesty.

    Robin Faber

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  14. But did you like the movie?

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